Monday, June 29, 1998 Last modified at 2:50 a.m. on Monday, June 29, 1998

Algerians riot after funeral for singer

BENI DOUALA, Algeria (AP) - Rioters stoned police and stormed government buildings Sunday in eastern Algeria, after tens of thousands attended the burial of a slain singer who had defended the minority Berber culture.

Police responded with gunfire, killing at least one person, as rioting over Thursday's slaying of Lounes Matoub, 42, continued for a fourth straight day, witnesses and officials said.

Matoub was the latest Algerian artist to be killed during a six-year Muslim insurgency that has claimed more than 75,000 lives.

Shortly after the funeral, fighting broke out in nearby Tizi-Ouzou, a regional center located 60 miles east of Algiers, the capital.lenhtputrsofi

The death of the rioter brings to four the number killed since the protests began Thursday. About 100 people have been reported injured.

The government has blamed Muslim militants in the death, but mourners aimed their anger at the military-backed government's plans to impose Arabic as the only official language, beginning next Sunday.